Health care information and technology services company IMS Health Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IMS) acquired Privacy Analytics Inc., a health data privacy specialist, from the Facit Business Trust in Toronto. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Privacy Analytics helps health care organizations remove patient-identifying information from data to comply with U.S., Canadian and European privacy regulations, and so the data can be shared with other organizations. Its customers include half of the Fortune 50 heath care companies.

IMS Health plans to expand Privacy Analytics services globally. Among its services, IMS Health connects its clients to cloud-based health care data to use for research and analysis of diseases, treatments, outcomes and costs. The company has 15,000 employees and its customers include pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, health care providers, health care payers, government agencies, policymakers, researchers and the financial community. Facit, the seller, was the first seed investor in Privacy Analytics. Facit was set up by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research as a means of developing potential cancer treatment innovations.

Earlier in May, IMS Health announced it will merge with Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (NYSE: Q) in $9 billion, all-stock transaction, creating a $23 billion company and IMS Health shareholders owning 51 percent of the shares. Quintiles provides product development services and clinical trial design advice.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has spurred M&A activity as more health care professionals look to new technology and software solutions to better compete in the evolving market. Some recent examples include private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquiring a majority stake in DocuTap, provider of cloud-based software to health care clinics earlier in May. And in April, Accruent, a commercial property management software provider, purchased Mainspring Healthcare Solutions, a provider of software and technology products to U.S. hospitals.